The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parshios this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
Rabbi Frand began the parsha section of his shiur by noting that although Parshas Tazria is mostly a discussion of the laws of Tzara'as, it first contains a discussion of laws relating to childbirth and the Tumah related to the childbirth.
Why is there Tumah? Because when someone is on a high level and then they lose that status, Tumah sets in. When a woman is pregnant, she is a creator. After the baby is born, she loses that status and becomes Tamei. R' Frand quoted the Avnei Nezer who says the same thing about Tumas Meis - when a person is alive he has Kedushah, but after death, Tumah sets in.
The laws of Yoledes include that a woman must bring a Chatas afterwards. Why? The Gemara in Niddah teaches that when a woman is in the pain of childbirth, the woman swears that she won't have any more children and won't have anything to do with her husband again. But the maternal instinct causes her to forget this as she wants to have more children. Since she will violate her "oath" she brings a Chatas.
But what is the connection between a Yoledes and a Metzorah?
R' Frand quoted the Sefer Arzei HaParsha who notes the common ground between the Yoledes and the Metzorah - they both underestimated the power of speech. The woman swore that she would not do this again, but words have impact and an oath is an oath. The Metzorah also did not contemplate what words can do - they can ruin livelihoods or families or futures. This is why they are in the same Parsha - because speech separates us from animals and we need to be careful about speech.
R' Frand quoted a story in the Sefer which was repeated from the Igros Moshe. In 1921, R' Moshe was the Rav in Luban, Russia. There was a Jew who was very ill and was near death from the swelling of his tongue. R' Moshe visited the man and the man asked everyone to leave. The man then told R' Moshe - I know why this is happening, because I spoke Lashon Harah. Last Shabbos we read Parshas Vayera which includes the story of Lot and his daughters. I said how disgusting is this - that they named their children Amon and Moav, as an eternal denigration for their father.
That night the man had a dream where he saw two women whose faces were covered. The women were Lot's daughters. They told him that the reason that they did this was to demonstrate that the only way that children can be born is from a man. And if in the future there is a religion that recognizes a son of G-d, we need to demonstrate that children only come from a man and a woman.
The man said to R' Moshe - this is why he was suffering. And when he finished the story, he turned over and died.
R' Frand said a second vort related to the process of a Metzorah becoming Tahor. R' Frand noted that the sacrifices for the Metzorah are different than any other sacrifice. Every sacrifice of a living creature requires a Shechita of some kind, but for the Metzorah, one bird is slaughtered, then the blood is sprinkled on the second bird and then the second bird is sent away.
Why is the second bird sent away?
The Sfas Emes quotes the Zohar which states that Tzaraas comes as a result of Lashon Harah. But there are two aspects of this - speaking Lashon Harah and refraining from saying good words when they come to his mind.
One bird is killed - which is symbolic of the bad words that people speak. But the second bird is sent away as a Kapparah for not speaking good words when you could have done so.
R' Frand said that the easiest Chessed you can do for someone is to say something nice. It doesn't cost you a dime, but it can make a world of difference. R' Frand gave the example of going over to a Ba'al Tefillah after davening and telling him how much you enjoyed the Tefillah.
R' Frand told a story about a young woman who was perhaps just back from seminary and while sitting in her car in Monsey, she saw a teacher that she had in sixth grade. She went over to the teacher and told her - you taught me how to write English. When I applied to seminary I wrote an essay and that's what got me into seminary and I very much appreciate that I learned this from you.
The teacher wrote a letter to the girl's parents and told them how much she appreciated the conversation, She had been approached by the school before Pesach and they asked her to let them know by Pesach whether she wanted to teach the following year. The teacher said that she had decided that she was going to tell the school that she would not be returning as she had been teaching for 37 years and she was tired. [R' Frand said as an aside that every year the teachers get older but the students stay the same age and the gap keeps growing. When he started giving shiur he was 7-8 years older than the students, but now he is 50-60 years older].
As a result of the short conversation with the girl, the teacher reconsidered retirement and told the school that she would return. How many more students were positively impacted because of that four minute conversation! This is why the Metozrah needs a Kapparah for not engaging in positive speech.
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